Las Vegas lawyer Tick Segerblom successfully advocated for a Clark County School District employee in a Whistleblower/First Amendment retaliation case.

Segerblom argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of Elena Rodriguez-Malfavon, a CCSD administrator who was demoted because she complained that her supervisor was surreptitiously audiotaping staff, students, and parents at a school.

Based upon the Ninth Circuit’s decision, Associate Superintendent Edward Goldman will be forced to defend his decision before a jury. Goldman has previously been held liable by Nevada juries in two similar cases.

“Public employees need to have the utmost confidence that they can speak up when they see government agencies take actions that may be unethical or unlawful,” Segerblom said. “Using limited public funding to stifle whistleblowers is not the best use of resources, especially at a time when CCSD is under tight budget constraints. I hope this ruling helps the district revise practices and adopt a more conciliatory approach to employee concerns.”

The case, Elena Rodriguez-Malfavon v Clark County School District; et al has been remanded to U.S. District Court.